A Stormy Exchange
by Ari Moriarty
Summary: Kanji Tatsumi and Fuuka Yamagaishi are both planning a Valentine's gift exchange with their newest online friends. Unfortunately, they find themselves forced to improvise in the middle of a snowstorm. A collaboration with Supernova23.
1. One: Kanji

**Author's Note: **Happy Valentines Day, everyone! The following little story is a collaboration between myself and the wonderful **Supernova23! **Here's a little fluff, and I hope it makes you smile!

**One: **

On the morning of February the thirteenth, snow poured down outside the Tatsumi Textile shop. It had been falling for hours, and the silent, empty street was covered in soggy white fluff.

"Be on the lookout for some crazy winter weather in Inaba this weekend!" cautioned the TV announcer with an artificial grin on his face. "It's gonna get cold and snowy out there, folks!"

Kanji Tatsumi glared at the TV, and then at the snowy streets. "Yeah," he muttered. "No kidding." Grumbling unhappily to himself, he switched off the TV and started wolfing down a breakfast bowl full of last night's leftovers.

"Good morning," announced Mrs. Tatsumi, emerging from the next room. "Oh, Kanji, don't stuff your face like that. You'll make yourself sick or choke."

"Mfphine," Kanji informed her over the top of his breakfast. Swallowing and clearing his throat, he added, "Uh…morning."

"Oh dear." Kanji's mother was frowning at the snow. "What a terrible mess this weather is making of our town."

Kanji shrugged. "Uh, actually, isn't it kind of pretty?"

"Well, yes, it is," agreed Mrs. Tatsumi, "but it's slowing everything down. No one wants to drive in the snow, and I don't think anyone is going to come to the shop today. Normally today is such a busy day for us, too."

Kanji raised an eyebrow. "Busy? What's special about today?"

"Have you forgotten?" Mrs. Tatsumi frowned at him. "I suppose that means you don't have any plans. Oh, well. You're a handsome boy after all, so maybe next year…"

"What? What the hell are you talking about?" Kanji was losing his patience. "Plans for what? Is something happening?"

"Kanji," sighed Mrs. Tatsumi, "tomorrow is Valentine's Day."

"Uh…right," Kanji mumbled. "Right. Wait, crap!"

A lot of things went rapidly through Kanji's head at once. Now that his mother mentioned it, he definitely remembered Yosuke-senpai saying something about Valentine's Day coming up. Actually, Yosuke had said a bunch of stuff, about how much it sucked to be a guy without a date on a holiday like Valentine's Day, and about how he was gonna go all out to try and get some girl besides Chie-senpai to make him candy this year. Teddie had offered to back him up, and Yosuke had tried to get Yu-senpai to help him out, but Yu of course had plans with his girlfriend. That left only Kanji, and when Yosuke had asked Kanji to come along and pick up girls with him, Kanji hadn't been able to, because he'd said that…

"Crap!" repeated Kanji, smacking himself in the forehead. "I do have plans! I've got plans tomorrow! Um, I'm meeting this girl in Okina. We're gonna exchange Valentines or something."

Kanji mother stared. "You…you're going to meet a girl?" Her eyes sparkled at him. "How wonderful!"

Kanji glared. "Shut up you old bag. Don't get excited. It's nothing like that." He could feel his cheeks beginning to burn as Mrs. Tatsumi gave him that understanding, mother-knows-all kind of look. "She's just this friend I met online, that's all."

"Online? Oh, I see. Yes, that does seem to be how many young people are meeting these days. Ah, well." Kanji's mother took another look out the window, and shrugged helplessly. "It seems that you may have to postpone your meeting until another day. No one's going out in this weather, it's much too horrible. I'm sure you and your 'friend' can exchange gifts another time."

Mrs. Tatsumi shook her head regretfully, smiled at Kanji, and returned her own room, leaving Kanji alone and glaring at the snow.

"Sure is pretty," he mumbled miserably. Normally, he loved snow. It was soft, white, beautiful, and made him think of Christmas, New Years, and all the best times.

Right now, though, the snow was his enemy. Kanji Tatsumi had a gift to get for a friend, and he wasn't ready to be defeated by a little bit of cold, wet snow.

Pulling a chair over in front of the computer, Kanji logged on to the internet and waited until his chat screen loaded.

_Can't buy V-Day gift for friend_, he typed, chewing on his lip. Can _u help? Wat do I do?_

After a few minutes, whoever was at the other end of the chat window typed a response. _You should make something_, his friend said. _Everyone loves homemade gifts!_

Kanji scratched his head, and took a quick look around the room_. No_, he typed back finally. _No extra fabric. Can't shop. 2 much snow._

This time, it took Kanji's chat friend a little longer to respond. _Do you want to make a Valentine for a boy or for a girl?_ asked the friend eventually.

_Girl_, typed Kanji.

_Okay_, replied Kanji's chat friend. _In that case, why don't you try making some chocolate? Most girls love chocolate, and any girl would be impressed by a boy who could make his own sweets._

Kanji winced. _U sure?_ he typed. _Making sweets is girly?_

_Of course it isn't_., replied his chat friend. _Creativity isn't for just girls or for boys. Anyone who can make something delicious is really cool! At least, I think so._

Kanji wasn't so sure. Once, when he'd been in elementary school, a little girl's puppy passed away. She'd been so sad, and Kanji had tried baking her some cookies with the brand new Simple Baking Oven set he'd gotten for his tenth birthday. When he'd presented the cookies to her in school, her friends had all predictably laughed at him, and she'd thrown he cookies away. Kanji had spent the whole day watching those discarded sitting abandoned in the classroom trashcan and trying not to make the unmanly mistake of starting to cry.

Unfortunately, the snow was still piling up outside, and it didn't look as though it was likely to stop any time soon. There wasn't much chance of him getting to the store before tomorrow, and so he knew that he wouldn't be able to buy either a present, or the material necessary to sew a present in time.

_Kanji?_ typed his chat friend. _Are you still there?_

_K_, replied Kanji. _Will try choklat. Thx. _

_Oh, really? That's great_! Kanjis' chat friend seemed excited. _Um, if you want, I can give you my favorite chocolate recipe. It's got spices in it to give it an extra little kick. I took a lot of notes on exactly how to make it, so it should be really easy for you!_

Kanji, who almost never cooked anything, wasn't so sure that this was going to be "easy" at all. Still, now that he'd committed to the idea, he knew he couldn't back down. Already he was starting to get pretty worked up, imagining the look on his new friend's face when he presented her with a set of perfectly made, deliciously-smelling Valentine's chocolates.

_Recipe? Cool_, he typed. _Bring it on!_


	2. Two: Fuuka

**Two:**

Fuuka sat in her cozy hotel room, wrapped in a blanket. Open in front of her was her laptop where she was meticulously typing out her chocolate recipe. She smiled as she finished writing the instructions and sent them. "He must have someone special if he wants to make her something," she mused.

She was currently talking to her online friend who she was supposed to meet the next day to exchange gifts with for Valentine's Day. When she had explained the situation to Mitsuru-senpai, the redhead had just smiled at her and told her to go ahead and enjoy herself. With her time off secured, Fuuka had taken a train out to Okina and grabbed a hotel room because of the predicted bad weather.

She got up to grab her charger for her laptop. She opened her suitcase and began to look for it. "Let's see... It was right in here on top of the… the gift!" She inwardly swore. The gift she had spent time making was gone! How should she have forgotten it! She plugged in her computer and quickly typed into the chat box.

_Hey, are you still there?_

The response came quickly to ease her worries.

_Yes. What's up?_

_I need a gift idea. _She typed in. _I forgot the gift I was going to give and I don't have the parts to make another._ She waited for the response. She had made a really good pair of speakers out of old machine parts she had lying around. He was most likely figuring out what she meant. Soon enough, a reply came back.

_Why not make something else?_

Fuuka tilted her head in confusion. The only thing she was really good at was working with machines, though she was getting better at cooking. _What do you mean?_

_U could knit something._

Fuuka gave the idea some thought. If she left quickly, she could maybe find a shop that was open, though a glance out the window to the blizzard made her want to leave the warm and dry blanket even less. Still, she had to do this. She wasn't going to look like a fool the first time meeting her friend.

_Alright then. Talk to you later~_

She signed out of the program and went to suit up for her adventure. Even though she had never knitted before, she was going to give it her best shot!

Fuuka stood in the snow up to her knees, shivering. She was waiting by the train platform, thankful that the snow had stopped falling overnight. Her gift was in a small bag, and she was excited to see what he thought of it. She had asked him for a description as a reference, and she had given described her appearance as well.

She watched the train come in, and looked at the people exiting. Blond, slicked hair, about six feet tall…yes, this had to be him. As he looked around, she waved from where she was standing, calling him over.

Once he walked over to her, he looked her over to make sure she was the right person. When they were sure, he nervously extended his hand. "Kanji Tatsumi. It's nice to finally meet you."

She giggled at his nervous behavior and shook his hand. "Fuuka Yamagishi. And likewise, Tatsumi-san." It was her turn to be nervous. "I had forgotten the gift I had made, and so I had to use your suggestion." She looked away as she thrust the bag into his hands.

He took it and pulled out a dark blue knit scarf. Kanji could see a multitude of problems at first glance. The spacing wasn't even, some threads weren't secured properly, and by pulling a few loose threads, the whole thing would come apart. He wrapped it around his neck anyway though it wasn't helping with the cold. "Thanks a lot Yamagishi-san." He said, making her blush. "I really like it."

He then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box. "I actually ended up taking your chocolate recipe, and it made a lot, but some of it was unusable."

She opened the box to find some small chocolate. "Well it's the thought that counts, right?" She asked, before popping one into her mouth. Her mouth was on fire. She had no idea what was wrong, but it had taken her a long time to get everything right, so it was understandable. As her body protested by making tears form in her eyes, she managed to force the chocolate down. "Th-thank you very much, Tatsumi-san."

He gave her a downcast look. "It's not very good, is it?"

She gave him a soft smile. "It's the thought that counts. I can tell from how you looked at it, my scarf isn't very good either."

He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't sweat it. It wasn't a bad attempt. And the next time you try, you'll be sure to do better. I could even teach you a thing or two, if you're interested."

She blushed at the invitation. "That sounds like a lot of fun. But for now, let's just enjoy today." She quickly surveyed the nearby area. "It looks like some places are opening despite the snow! Want to go get something to eat? My treat."

He seemed surprised, but nodded. "Lead the way, Yamagishi-san."

She nodded and began to lead him by the wrist. She made sure to speed up so her hand slipped off his wrist and into his. He didn't try and shake her hand free, so she hand his tighter.

As they walked in silence through the quiet, the blushes on their faces were hot enough to block out any of the cold round them.


End file.
